3 Nashville to Memphis

Day 3 - Since the Civil Rights Museum in Nashville was closed on Tuesdays, we headed off to Memphis. Tennessee was definitely showing off for us…. clear blue skies, puffy white clouds and 82 degree temperatures. Interstate 40 is lined with tall stands of trees, very scenic. We passed by the Tennessee River National Wildlife Refuge … with large expanses of lake, no development, large cotton fields … and then Pringle Park where the Seattle Mariners’ AA team calls home. We were joined on the highway by a group of bikers traveling the open road and enjoying the sun, too! One thing we’ve started to notice for sure - once we got south of Ohio, we started to see LOTS of semi trucks. And when they get side-to-side, especially on a hill there ain’t no passing them for a while.

After 3 ½ hours of car travel, we reached Memphis. Outside of downtown Memphis we saw the gates of Overton Park which are made out of brightly colored bicycles. Before we checked into our hotel, we visited the Peabody and checked out the ducks. There are about a half dozen ducks that live in a rooftop “home” at the Peabody. Every morning, the Duckmaster escorts the ducks from the roof, down the elevator to a fountain in the lobby, where they spend the day swimming, preening and entertaining the hotel guests. At 5 PM, the Duckmaster leads them to the elevator and back up to the roof. Been going on for many, many years.

There were three things we wanted to do today: visit the Center for Southern Folklore, hike over to Mud Island River Park and explore the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum.

By mid afternoon, we were off – starting with the Center for Southern Folklore since it was the closest. The shop was bright and colorful and very kitchy. Jill, a very welcoming, middle-aged person, greeted us and was very excited to talk about Memphis art and music. When she learned that John was a photographer she took us on a bit of a hike through the building, downstairs to view the work of Reverend Lonzie Odie Taylor who, as an African-American man, captured images of everyday life in the world of African-American people from the 20’s to the ‘60s, much like Teeny Harris did in Pittsburgh. They were very interesting and showed a very vibrant community. Jill left us downstairs to look at the photos and said when we were done she would take us to the roof so we could take great pictures of Memphis.

After Jill left, Denise wandered toward the back of the large room, and into a back room, only to come across a woman sleeping on a couch. She introduced herself as Judy Peiser, the executive director of the Center for Southern Folklore. Judy as it turns out knew everything about the Memphis community pertaining to music and art. She has been doing this for 35 years and was personal friends with BB King and other musicians well-known local musicians. She had us watch a DVD on the local music community, hosted by BB King, that she had put together. This Center was a gem. This building in which the center is located was formally a department store that her father owned and left to her. It also housed an Asian/Jewish Culture Center. Next, Judy and Jill gave us dinner suggestions (everyone was always ready to do that), and took us up to the roof to take photos. The two women were such sources of local knowledge with many stories that we stayed until 6. We missed the underground museum and also the hike to Mud Island since the tram, the walkway and the Island closed at 5. The tram is suspended under a walkway – the only sources of access to Mud Island.

Instead we went to Memphis Park - formerly known as Confederate Park - and took pictures of the sunset near the bridge from Memphis to Arkansas. From the vantage point on the cliff overlooking the Mississippi River, the citizens of Memphis watched the Federal armored gunboats defeat the confederate boats (armored with bales of cotton). The federal army then took over Memphis. Here we also found a statue of Jefferson Davis (former president of the Confederate States of America) and several cannons guarding the bluff. Indeed a beautiful view.

At the suggestion of Judy, we went in search of the BarBQue Shop 1782 Madison Ave, for dinner. We split a rack of half dry/half glazed ribs. Definitely liked the glazed ones better. It was very good but we still like 12 Bones Ribs (Ashville, NC) better. The evening was supposed to be music on Beale Street. However, we made the mistake of stopping at our hotel room to rest up – and both immediately fell asleep.